Dallas Styles: Digger’s Hat

In “The Silent Killer,” Digger Barnes makes his first appearance on “Dallas” since “Double Wedding,” which debuted almost a year earlier. “The Silent Killer” also marks the debut of Digger’s hat, one of the character’s signatures.

The hat looks like a cheap fedora. Notably, it isn’t a Stetson, the chapeau style favored by most of the men on “Dallas.” This makes sense. After all, Digger has spent his life kicking around oil fields, not cow pastures.

“Dallas” completes Digger’s blue-collar look by dressing him in work shirts – either blue or white – along with white socks and dark pants and shoes. This is the look he sports most often during “Dallas’s” third season.

My favorite detail, though, is the eyeglass case he keeps in his front shirt pocket. When I was growing up, my dad carried his glasses in the front pocket of his work shirts, too, so this detail rings true to me. (Dad also favored white socks with dark pants, which I found horrifying when I was a teenager. Now I think it’s endearing.)

Interestingly, Digger’s glasses always remain in his pocket; we never see him wear them. This is too bad. If any “Dallas” character needs help seeing things more clearly, it’s poor old Digger Barnes.